Ben Affleck Reacts to Batman Casting Backlash

The 41-year-old actor, who will star opposite Henry Cavill's Superman in a 2015 sequel to "Man of Steel," was on the receiving end of some hefty criticism when the casting details were announced last month.

But Affleck is clearly shrugging it off.

"I'm a big boy. If I can handle the 'Emmy' snub, I can handle anything...I'm very tough," the star joked during a visit to "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" on Monday.

Affleck said Warner Bros., the studio behind the film, gave him a heads up that there could be some negative reaction online. "The people from the studio said, 'We want to talk to you because people go through this process and it can be a little trying,'" he revealed. "They said, 'We want to show you some of the reactions that past cast members have got on the Internet.'"

Apparently, Affleck was curious: "I saw the announcement, I look at the first comment and it's like, 'Ben Affleck is going to be Batman' and the first one goes, 'Noooooooo!'"

Affleck also admitted he was a little skeptical about taking on the role at first: "They called me up and said, 'Do you want to do this? And I thought, 'I'm not 25 man and are you sure about this?' And they said, 'Come down, we want to show you what we're doing,' and it was incredible."

In the Zach Snyder-directed film, Affleck will star alongside "Man of Steel" stars Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Laurence Fishburne as Perry White and Diane Lane as Martha Kent. Production is expected to begin in next year for release on July 17, 2015.